More Information on Aja

Part of Aja's crew has come up to Victoria and brought us up to date on what happened with her. At about 4 pm on Thursday, they were sailing on port tack when they heard a loud bang. They looked around and could not find what caused the noise. They continued sailing in about 10 foot seas until Mike went down to the head. He discovered water pouring into the head compartment.

Further examination showed that the bulkhead was opening and closing, letting a lot of water in each time... and the head was on the windward side of the boat. He then discovered that the chain plate was no longer attached and was moving up and down. The skipper and crew immediately decided to stop racing and take appropriate measures to secure the boat and rig. They then turned around and went back to Astoria. They were all rather frustrated that they didn't make it up here by sailboat. We are glad to hear that a few of the crew came up anyway (something about Mother's Day trips to Victoria...).

Report from Wy'East

I just spoke with Frank Colistro on Wy'East. They are enjoying bright sunshine and about 10 knots of wind. He said the first night was pretty rough and cold (around 40 degrees) but after that it has been pretty nice.

A few boats have withdrawn

We heard from Passepartout and Cool Change. Both tired of bobbing around without any wind and have withdrawn from the race. They have turned on their engines and are heading to Victoria. They are expected to get here in the wee hours. I am told that Freewind has also dropped out and turned on their engines, but RC has not yet heard from them.

Waiola

Waiola started motoring at 10 pm Thursday night. They just called to let us know that they are about an hour away from the finish. When they came through Race Rocks, they stopped motoring and put up their sails. It is a lovely day here in Victoria, but at Ogden Point right now there is very little wind, just a few ripples on the water.

Our first arrival from Astoria

This one is definitely a member of the cruising class.

8 Bells for Stuart Sinclair

It is with a heavy heart that we must bid farewell to Stuart Sinclair, who passed away Thursday morning. Stuart was at the helm of his Olsen 30, Off Like A Prom Dress, doing pre-race maneuvers before a Wednesday night race in Astoria when he collapsed. His crew returned to the dock after calling the Coast Guard. Emergency crews met them at the dock. Stuart was Life Flighted to Portland, where he passed away on Thursday morning. Stuart has been a great supporter of the Oregon Offshore and was scheduled to go out with our start committee on Thursday. Stuart was well known in the sailing community and has helped many a sailor learn about racing and become better sailors. He has also helped build the Olsen 30 fleet in Astoria. Our sympathy goes out to his wife, Tara, their family and his crew.

Well, we though Passepartout's tracker was working...

Turns out that Passepartout's tracker is still not reporting regularly. Hopefully they will eventually figure it out. Until then, their location could be several hours old. You can check when a boat last reported by clicking on the boat and going to the details tab.

Passepartout and Kokopelli

For those wondering about Passepartout and Kokopelli, you will notice that they have restarted their trackers. They are now showing on the race tracker (and it looks like both are doing pretty well).

Waiola under power

We were wondering how Waiola was doing so well, until Herb called to let us know he has been motoring since about 10:00pm last night. They plan to continue motoring until the corner, then watch the fleet make the turn. Wind where they are now is extremely light and they have 5' swells. Last night was a miserable one and contributed to the decision to turn on the iron jenny.

Rattler has retired

We heard from Rattler this morning. They have retired and are now safely in Gray's Harbor. They said that it was a pretty miserable night with 10' confused seas. Everything was completely wet. Several crew members had been shivering for 12 hours and all were wet and very tired. They decided to drop out before someone got hurt. The boat and all aboard are fine and trying to dry out. They will make a decision today about their next step. They still plan to race Swiftsure, so they will likely start motoring up, hopefully in time for Sunday's BBQ.

Kokopelli is not where the tracker shows her

Via voicemail at 5:41 pm, we heard that Kokopelli is having problems with their SPOT tracker. They are still in the race, but not where it shows them. They say that they are near California Girl and racing hard.

Aja has withdrawn

Aja left us a message at 3:57pm this afternoon. They have a separated chain plate and a cracked deck. All on board are fine. They have withdrawn and returned to Astoria.

Passepartout

I noticed a comment asking about Passepartout. They accidentally took their tracker out of tracking mode just before the race. Although we asked the start folks to try to reach them, apparently they were not able to do so. All boats have been directed to reset their units every 24 hours.  We hope that they do so sooner rather than later, but there is no way for us to communicate this to them at this point. To our knowledge, they are still out there racing.

2 pm Start is on

The bar is open and the start is on for 2 pm. Go racers.

Race postponed

The race has been postponed to 1400 hours as we wait to see if the Coast Guard will open the bar.

Bar closed

The start will likely be delayed this afternoon. The bar is currently closed to boats under 50 feet due to the conditions outside. The waves are 12 to 15 feet. We will update as soon as we hear more.

The Race Tracker is Live

The race tracker is now live here on the blog. It will show boats and become active on Thursday morning when boats start turning on their SPOT trackers as they head out for the start. Just follow the link at the top of the left column.

Start Time Set

Boats this year don't have to get up at O'dark thirty to start the race. Due to a very strong ebb tide in the morning, the start time for the race this year will be a civilized 1300.

Crew List Reminder

Skippers, just a reminder that you will need to have your crew list turned in no later than the Skipper's Meeting on Wednesday. There is link to the form with the Race Documents on the left of the blog. You can turn them in electronically by e-mailing them to membership@cycportland.org before Wednesday at noon or give the RC the paper form at the meeting.

Skipper's Meeting Info

Race time is getting close. The mandatory Skippers' meeting will be held at the Astoria Events Center, 894 Commercial St., Astoria, OR  97103 on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. Doors open at 1800 and the no-host bar will be open. The meeting will start at 1930. Someone from your boat MUST attend this meeting.

As a reminder we are not doing a dinner this year, so dinner is on your own. There are some wonderful restaurants in Astoria. Here's a link to UrbanSpoon's reviews of Astoria restaurants: UrbanSpoon Astoria.